"Evan is one of those people who carries a vision and is able to galvanize the people around him, the staff and now the community. He’s a welcome and refreshing part of the conservation community.”- Harry Helling, President and CEO of the Crystal Cove Alliance, board member of The Ecology Center

For more information or to donate to The Ecology Center, 32701 Alipaz St., San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675, or call 949-443-4223 or check out their website, theecologycenter.org.

As he drove through the rural villages of Nigeria, Evan Marks peered out the window at the corn stalks, leafy greens and towers of yam crops. Families and neighbors were preparing meals side by side while tending the seasonal harvest. Nigeria felt like the home Marks had always longed for, a community where human connection and nature were protected and cared for.

But Marks had a realization: His community was not in Africa but somewhere else – back home in Orange County, a place in profound need of environmental change.

While sitting in the garden of The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano recently – the environmental education nonprofit that Marks founded eight years ago – he speaks with a Zen-like calm. The center is a serene rustic setting: a farm with rows of vegetables, lush trees and bins of rain water. A cat named Alice jumps into Marks' lap and begs for attention.

He strokes her gray fur and explains how he once considered Orange County a vapid wasteland, but today he sees it as a community ripe for restoration. “People often lack a sense of place,” says Marks, 32. “As much as this environment is amazing, we are generally disconnected from our environment and from our neighbors.” He wants to restore that connection.

A surfer since the age of 7, Marks cultivated a love of nature through the ocean's waves.

“When I go surfing, I feel very peaceful. I feel reinvigorated and inspired and ready to tackle challenges,” Marks says. “Surfers find a lot of happiness and joy in the ocean and the cleanliness of it matters.”

While he was a student at Corona del Mar High School, Marks learned that his safe haven was threatened by pollution that often shut down O.C. beaches. He got involved in water quality testing and picking up trash on the beach. This work led to a discovery.

“The number one source of ocean pollution is agriculture, runoff from the farms, chemical fertilizers and manures from animal factories and such. I thought that was pretty alarming,” Marks says.

Feeling at odds with the waste and consumerism of Orange County, Marks romanticized about traveling to places where he could find people with similar ecological values. He attended UC Santa Cruz to achieve a bachelor's degree in agroecology and after graduating, worked on farms in Santa Cruz to learn farming techniques.

With a wild passion to learn and to explore the world, Marks went to work at Punta Mona, Center for Sustainable Living and Education in Costa Rica, where he worked with local farmers to replant and aid in reforestation of the land. He found he had a knack for ecological education and often worked as an environmental consultant.

It was while working toward the sustainability of bamboo in West Africa that Marks finally made the connection back to his hometown. The balanced community he experienced was deeply rooted in the agricultural ideals that he so believed in, but Nigeria wasn't home.

After returning home, Marks sought out others who shared his passion for educating the public on sustainability, organic farming and green energy. Through a friend, he connected with the owner of the organic South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano, George Kibby, who encouraged Marks' vision for implementing a public facility for environmental education.

“The idea was to create a center for skill sharing and inspiration for building a sustainable community,” Marks says.

Kibby suggested The Congdon House as the location for Marks' vision. A beautiful 130-year-old wooden farmhouse neighboring South Coast Farms, The Congdon House already had 35 proposals to the city of San Juan Capistrano for occupancy from restaurant owners and hotel proprietors. With the help of his business-minded mother, Vicki, Marks drafted a proposal and was eventually selected to lease The Congdon House as an environmental education center. As a nonprofit, The Ecology Center's lease agreement was partially subsidized by the city as a historical landmark.

In 2005, Marks held the groundbreaking of The Ecology Center with over 150 supporters, politicians, volunteers and community members in attendance. The center gained financial support through grants from large corporations like Hurley and Boeing and membership programs that included small foundations and individuals. Harry Helling, president and CEO of the Crystal Cove Alliance, signed onto the board of directors and helped shape the educational programs alongside Marks.

The Ecology Center has since reached over 60,000 people – on the property and through presentations at schools and education centers. In addition to hosting field trips for students to explore the grounds, the center offers free teacher training on how to grow a school garden and conserve water. Visitors can also learn how to make a worm bin to manage waste, brew compost tea, build low-impact shelter, make bread or design a terrarium.

“The content is special and the hands-on sustainability is unique,” Marks says. “The space is inspiring and tells a story, and I think people take pieces of this place back home.”

With the cornerstone that every person can make a difference, The Ecology Center seeks to create a healthier and more connected community through heightened awareness. Marks suggests making small changes like forgoing plastic water bottles, buying organic produce and eating seasonably.

On Saturday, the culmination of The Ecology Center's work takes form in the annual fundraiser entitled the Green Feast. The community event features regional chefs and multiple vendors in an evening of hearty dishes, live music and learning.

“The mood is very positive and celebratory,” Marks says. “People who come say it's the best night of the year. It's all family style, so you literally meet everyone.”

The Ecology Center is thriving. With partnerships with businesses like Hurley and Chipotle, the center plans to expand the message of conservation and community in the coming years.

Although it took a trip around the globe to realize it, Marks' energy and education makes him the ideal advocate for sustainability in Orange County.

As the sun splits through the trees hanging over his head, he smiles as he talks about surfing in San Clemente and embracing the new friends he made upon returning to his hometown.

“I used to have a hard time coming down to Orange County because it's such a consumer society, and then I realized that we are all on this journey to find happiness, and people in Orange County, although they are different, are all trying to find happiness just like someone in Montana, Santa Cruz or Costa Rica,” he says.

“There are good people everywhere, and sometimes we get off path, but when you create a good space for people, their lives are affected.”

Upon listening to Marks' story, the words of the Irish novelist George Augustus Moore come to mind, “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

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